Rustheart (Realm)

An Everway Realm designed by Rolfe.

A curse has befallen the Realm now known as Rustheart. Tools, weapons, and machinery have been denied to those who live here. Every tool degrades and falls to waste within days of the first time it is used, making life hard while simultaneously gifting the people with a unique determination. No one knows what causes this bizarre curse, but the people have reworked their lives to accommodate it.

Usurper Force: Corrosion
Normal: Tools Degrade Inverted: Grown Stronger Through Adversity

People & Economy: The citizens of Rustheart have incredible self-reliance. Few have manufacturing skills, for most of what they could make would corrode. Few are martially inclined, for no army would want to invade this land. They hunt with thier bare hands, they gather what they can from the earth. They sleep beneath the stars whenever they are able. Their hardships are many, but it has resulted in the people growing strong and patient.

Pride: The people know that this is not an easy place to dwell. They take pride in thier ability to eek a living here. They know that this has made them strong and wise. Flight to another Realm would be a sign of weakness and dishonor which they cannot afford. The native Spherewalkers almost never develop or even become aware of thier gift as a result.

Mortality: Death is an expected thing in this realm, no one here hopes to live forever. An immortal character who flaunts the strength of their lifeforce in Rustheart will be looked down upon, shunned for disrupting the natural order. Every tool turns to dust, and it is only natural that we too pass that way one day.

Military: Wandering the russet hills of Rustheart are said to be a handful of the finest masters of the Martial Arts. These Warrior Monks come to this land to perfect thier art, for here they have not the crutch of weapons to lean upon. Their philosophies mirror the purity, focus, and intended adversity of the Realm of Rustheart.
Other than those masters, Rustheart has no military presence. It is unlikely anyone would ever want to invade.

Ecology: The plants of this wilderness all grow in shades of russet, brown or rust orange. The earth is sandy and loose, with occasional spurs of sandstone.

Serving Rose: The local rose has very stiff petals with a metallic color. A new blossom may be plucked and used as a small spoon, and an older rose may be used as a bowl. The Serving Rose is of course an immensely useful tool, used to cook and eat stews, then cast aside to degrade.

The Curse: Unused tools are unharmed by the corrosion, but once an item has been labored in this place, it’s time begins to run out. If the tool is not brought away from Rustheart within days it will fall to components and then swiftly degrade to dust. As such it is a dangerous place for materialists and craftsmen to venture. Clothing however, almost never degrades, and armor only begins to fail once it has saved the bearer’s life. Also, tools, if used for some means other than what they were initially crafted, have been known to fool the Realm’s curse for many weeks before suffering problems. Use a hammer and it lies ruined tomorrow, but pound in a nail with your steel-toed boot and it may well survive the month. Attempting to repair a degraded item will only hastens its collapse, and it will take with it whatever tools you used for the mending.

Souldrinker: There is a tale of a damned blade known as Souldrinker, an evil weapon of terrible magic, which was wrested from the hands of a tyrant only by a youthful hero’s cleverness. Fearful that the weapon would find its way back to its master, the hero fled the tyrants armies and came to Rustheart. Here he used Souldrinker to commit ritual suicide, giving up his own life and soul to ensure the fearsome weapons’ ultimate destruction.

Entering the Realm: There are no Gates in Rustheart. Perhaps a Gate existed here long ago, but if so it too was used and fell to the Usurper Corrosion. Instead, a wide road leads into Rustheart from the nearby Realm of The Moon’s Babe. As it enters Rustheart, it falls to trampled weeds and woodchips, but the closer it draws to The Moon’s Babe the better maintained the road is, with wooden railings, benches and observation decks being situated along the path. Every so often the remains of a collapsed watchtower is encountered, a Watchtower that degraded after being used to spy along the path to Rustheart.